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Fieldwork Stars Hollow-Intro to Hazy IPAs

I’m still warming up to hazy, juicy IPAs. I liked them on occasion in Colorado, because they were more of an occasional occurrence. They’re everywhere in California. They’re hard to escape here, and that’s because they’re some of the most popular beers on the market. Given that I’m now working at Fieldwork Brewing Co. (Disclosure of somewhat-bias), I have to give them a chance. So far, Stars Hollow Pale Ale stands out from the crowd.

I’ve found that I’m still pretty burned out on hazy IPAs, they’re all just so much of everything I’m not exactly looking for when I want an IPA. Hazy pale ales are a bit more subtle. They may still look a bit like orange, or in this case pineapple, juice, but the juicy profile isn’t as in your face. There’s nuance in a 5.0% pale ale where a 7.5% IPA is more overwhelming.

People love drinking beer that could be a new form of alcoholic pineapple juice and hops, and I will never hold that against anyone. It’s not for me, at least not right now. Something a bit lighter on the palate, but still with some serious late stage hopping, is more my speed. The hop selection here, amarillo and blanc, aren’t my favorites, but they play nicely together here. Light pineapple and grapefruit peel make sure the beer is refreshing, but the more subtle malt bill makes sure they don’t overwhelm your senses.

Beer Review Overview

Taste: A bit of pineapple without the candy sweetness. Almost like a stealth pineapple extract blended with a King’s Hawaiian sweet bread malt character. Subtle grapefruit rind and herbal lemongrass start the bitter finish that ends with a vegetal bitterness that lingers on the palate and lets you know you’re still drinking a heavily hopped American pale ale.

Mouthfeel: Light and smooth body with minimal carbonation that just adds a zing to the perimeter of your tongue when combined with the mild bitterness.

Overall: A refreshing and flavorful American pale ale with a new age hazy IPA spin on it. Not as crisp as I prefer my lawn games beer to be, but that’s not what they were going for. The bitterness adds to the crisp refreshing character to the pale ale without the carbonation interfering with the hops. I’m sure that any hazy IPA enthusiast would love a glass of this to go with their cup-holder equipped lawnmower on a sunny, California afternoon. Or morning, I don’t judge.

Write More, Do More

I was just writing a quick page in my journal, I’m trying to write at least a page in there each day to build the habit and just get random ideas on paper. I finished the page by saying maybe I’ll try my hand at some video editing and production, but the writing with help with that planning, so I should write first and make some video if I get inspired. I followed that up with a statement up the side of the page, inspiration is work ethic. It stuck out to me. I wrote it over. I’m still thinking about it. Continue reading “Writing in my Journal, Writing in General”→

The “Stone” Branding Has Gone Too Far

Greg Koch announced earlier this week that Stone Brewing has issued a lawsuit against MillerCoors over their packaging and branding efforts for the Keystone Light brand of beer. Stone is asserting that Keystone is willfully confusing customers with the prominence of the word “Stone” on the cans, as “Key” is on a different line in smaller text. I remember the campaign that seemed to play a major role in the rebranding, starring none other than Keith Stone. The ever-cool everyman was designed to be a casually , mustachioed man who was cool enough to show up at any college and be the life of the party. Continue reading “Stone Brewing Sues MillerCoors”→

I pre-ordered Splatoon 2 given the great things I’d heard about the original game. Like so many, I never had a Wii U and missed out on it. I was into it for a bit. I played through the first few SplatFests and had a great time. It was nice to have a competitive “shooter” experience on my new console. I didn’t stick with it for long though. There was a ton coming out on the Switch and there was something that wasn’t hooking me into Splatoon.

I was excited to download Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp when I was notified of its release on the Google Play Store yesterday. I’ve played a little each morning and it hits on everything I want out an Animal Crossing experience. A phone game seems perfect for this Nintendo franchise, far above their Mario implementation. It’s a breath of fresh air to be customizing my campsite, making friends, and visiting others campsites without a care in the world in 2017. That was, until Tom Nook reached right into my bell’s pouch when I wasn’t paying attention… Continue reading “Tom Nook Already Swindled Me in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp”→

Indie Games Perfectly Pair with Portability

Needless to say, I was excited when I got my hands on a Nintendo Switch a few short months ago. I loved the versatility of it being both a home console and a portable. I then proceeded to play about 120 hours of Legend of Zelda, with only around 5 of those hours being as a portable. It was a similar breakdown for both Mario Kart Deluxe and Splatoon 2. The experiences just felt too grand for the small screen, especially in Hyrule. I wasn’t sure if the portable mode would always be just a novelty for me, until the flood of indies started arriving. Continue reading “Finally Switching My Nintendo Switch”→